Council pays out £83 a day for pothole damage
Posted: July 31, 2014
Posted in: Foot Injuries Pedestrian Injuries Pothole Injuries Public Place Accidents Road Traffic Accidents 
A council is found to be paying out the equivalent of £83 a day in compensation due to the damage being caused by potholes. Barking and Dagenham Council has paid out a total of £182,635 in the last six years to claimants seeking compensation for personal injury and vehicle damage. The figures were released as part of a Freedom of Information request. It found that a total of 22 claims had been made against the council in relation to pothole damage between January and May 2014, (compared with 40 in the entire of 2013).
One of the claimants, 18-year-old Katie Reed, was left unable to walk for days after twisting her ankle three weeks ago. She had been going to the doctors when she tripped into a pothole only a few meters away from her house. Her mother, Caroline (43), said that the roads in their area are “disgusting”. She continued: “We have to pay all this money to drive on the roads and keep things safe but they’re not abiding by the rules to keep the roads safe.”
£44,234 to injured cyclist
In May 2009 a similar incident occurred, forcing the council to pay out £29,322 to the injured claimant. 2008 saw a cyclist win £44,234 in compensation after their bike hit a pothole. Another cyclist posted on a social media site that he is constantly putting himself “in danger dodging potholes”.
A spokesperson from the council said that the backlog of road-related claims is more than £11m. However, last year saw the council awarded with £188,800 by the Department for Transport to help their backlog. Even though this did not solve the problem, they said that they “will continue to lobby for more money.”
If you have suffered an injury in a public place or an accident on the road, and are looking to claim compensation, please contact us.
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